Removing Black Tar to install Strut Brace

[BKLYNTARGA]

I will be installing a strut brace later this week. What is the best way to remove the black tar- like material on the top of the strut tower?

[GH85Carrera]

A heat gun should soften it up enough to put in a brace.

[VaSteve]

Chip it off with a hammer and chisel.

[RWebb]

you can replace with strip caulk

if you remove it all you may have water in the trunk

[Packy]

I took off the parts then wire brushed them and wire brushed where it was on the car then touched it up later.

[ThePid]

I'm getting ready to do the same. How did your project go?
Did you need to get a torque wrench? Did you replace the caulking once the brace was installed?
Lastly.... Did you notice any difference at all once installed? I'm going to install on a 1989 cab?

[wildcat077]

I chipped mine off carefully with a wood chisel ...
There's no need to replace the tar once it's been removed,just make sure you touch up the spots where you may have scratched the metal !

Not sure if i could " feel " a difference,but technically it's supposed to work and keep your camber more constant.

Cheers !
Phil

[Wil Ferch]

The caulking goes under the plate,....around the perimeter of the shock opening underneath to make a seal. Plate gets put on top therefore no need to pour molten goo over the plate as the factory did.

[KTL]

That tar crap is a real pain and mess. I originally used a chisel/blunt flatblade screwdriver very carefully, but still managed to scratch the paint here & there. I say forget the chiseling because I tried the heat gun on another car and it worked excellent. Get the crud just hot enough to slightly start bubbling and then scrape it away with a plastic or wood scraper. Final cleanup with a suitable adhesive remover solvent will clean off the rest of the black. I prefer 3M general purpose adhesive remover. Nasty stuff, so wear protective gloves!

For caulk I used some rope caulk that is typically used for home window work. It's pliable and sticks where you want it to, but also easily removable. It's also weather resistant, since it's intended for window use.

[Flat Six]

If you chill it first (I used a can of compressed air -- computer keyboard duster -- inverted so the liquid nitrogen-like stuff hits the tar) it'll chip off pretty easily and in fairly large chunks. YMMV, but worked well for me.

[donporfi]

Like flat six said, try to chill it first, it will be very brittle after chilling it. If you can get "dry ice" which should be cheaper than the compressed air. Then you can use a Fein/Bosch or Dremel multitool to scrape it off.There is a post that shows how somebody used this tool to scrape the tar from a 911 lower panel.
I do not like to use a heat gun for this task, you make a mess and the hot tar sticks to everything and gives nasty burns if it touches your skin.

[euro911sc]

I heated 1 side with the heat gun... that didn't work too well and now I have a thin layer of black crap everywhere... the other side I used a dull chisel. The tar took some of the paint with it. I was not happy. Any way you do it it seems to be less than great results

-Michael

[KTL]

Gotta clean up the residue with a solvent like mineral spirits/paint thinner

[RWebb]

just leave it there!

why the rush to remove something that the factory engineers thought important???

[KTL]

It's only importance is keeping water out of the trunk. There's plenty of suitable alternatives that exist to seal up the strut mount area better than hardened tar.

Plus if you want your car to receive a proper alignment, those big 'ol chunks of crud MUST be removed w/out question.

[gtc]

Originally Posted by Flat Six

If you chill it first (I used a can of compressed air -- computer keyboard duster -- inverted so the liquid nitrogen-like stuff hits the tar) it'll chip off pretty easily and in fairly large chunks. YMMV, but worked well for me.

I tried this too using bubble gum remover (probably the same stuff, just compressed CO2). It worked like a charm.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by KTL

... if you want your car to receive a proper alignment, those big 'ol chunks of crud MUST be removed w/out question.

what makes you say that?

[McLovin]

in theory you shouldn't have to remove much, if any, of the tar to do a factory alignment.

but in reality, pretty much every 911 in the US has been lowered, most of them significantly. So when you go to realign, you basically render the factory tarring useless, as the large washer plates move so much during the alignment. The movement causes the tar to chip off (by necessity), and the new placement of the plates after the alignment leaves gaps that the "old" tar doesn't cover

[KTL]

What makes me say that is the crud is packed into the gaps and crevices of the strut mount opening in the chassis and locks the mount in place. In order to move the mount side-side or fore-aft, the crud has to be cleared away. Better to do it yourself than to let your alignment guy take his own liberty (aggravated because that junk is in his way, time is money, and chips away at it with whatever tool suits his fancy) and scratch your car quite nicely?

[RWebb]

All I can say is that what you describe is directly contrary to my experience with 2 cars. The newest was a '75; maybe things are different on your '87...